Boon star Elphick dead at 56

His gravel tones and lived-in face made him one of Britain's best-known character actors.

Michael Elphick was as compelling playing a villain in The Sweeney as he was playing it for laughs in a Dickens adaptation.

But yesterday it was revealed that the actor best known as motorcycling private eye Boon has died at the age of 56.

Elphick, whose long battle with the bottle led to him losing his last role - that of Uncle Harry in East-Enders - complained of pains on Saturday morning and was taken to hospital from his North London home.

He died that evening. 'It was very sudden and there may need to be a post mortem,' said a spokesman for the star.

Last night his former co-star Neil Morrissey led tributes to Elphick. 'Michael has been a great friend and mentor for many years,' said Morrissey, who started his career in Boon. 'He is one of the best actors this country has produced.'

Born in 1946 in Chichester, West Sussex, Elphick began his career in theatre as a stage electrician. A meeting with Laurence Olivier encouraged him to attend drama school in London.

Film and television roles followed. On the small screen he played heavies in Z Cars, Crown Court and The Sweeney but made his name in the hit comedy Three Up, Two Down.

He achieved transatlantic success in 1980 with Private Schultz, a comedy drama about a Third Reich con man.

Boon followed in 1986, running for seven series until Elphick tired of the role in 1992. At its peak it attracted an audience of 11million.

His next show, Harry, about a retired journalist, was less successful and was axed after one series.

He also secured major supporting roles in hit films such as Gorky Park, The Elephant Man, The Krays, Quadrophenia, and Withnail & I.

In 2000, Elphick appeared as Barkis in an acclaimed BBC adaptation of David Copperfield but it was EastEnders that provided his final role in summer 2001. However, his contract was not renewed after complaints from other cast members about his drinking.

He had battled alcoholism for much of his life. In 1988 doctors warned him if he did not stop he would not live another year.

He stopped for four years but when his lover of 34 years, teacher Julia Alexander, died of cancer in 1996 he began again.

'It was taking over my life,' Elphick said in 1998. 'I've accepted that it is an illness, a disease.'

That year he checked himself into the Priory Clinic in Roehampton, South West London, for five weeks when his daughter Kate, with whom he lived in Cricklewood, North London, discovered she was pregnant with his first grandchild.

When he came out he claimed to have beaten his problems but, despite warnings from doctors, he went back on the booze.

EastEnders bosses warned him to clean up his act after they learned he had been bingeing on vodka and Guinness at the BBC bar and he began forgettting lines.

His co-star Barbara Windsor refused to kiss him during their romantic scenes, saying he stank of drink.

The last straw came when he turned up drunk at the British Soap Awards. His six-month contract was not renewed.

A spokesman for the BBC soap said last night: 'Everyone on the cast and crew of EastEnders is shocked to hear of Michael's tragically early passing. He was a talented actor who brought a wealth of experience to the programme.'